Danvers’ defeats Beverly in boys’ soccer

It took a late surge for the Danvers boys’ soccer team to pull away from Northeast Conference rival Beverly, but thanks to two second-half goals by Eric Martin, the 10th-ranked Falcons emerged with a 4-1 win at Birch Plains Field in Beverly Tuesday.

“They had a man marking him all game,” said Danvers coach Mike Chase. “Typically whenever he gets the ball in possession with his back to the net, there’s usually another guy or three by the time he is ready to do his thing. But he did find his way.”

With two defenders draped on him, Martin came in on the right side of the box, regained his footing, and blasted one hard enough to get by Panthers goalie Justin Carnivale, who initially got a hand on the ball, giving the Falcons (6-0) some breathing room at 3-1 with 14 minutes to play.

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“They put a couple of guys on me,” said Martin, who added two assists. “So we tried to get the ball on my feet and we knew everyone else would be open. They finished the ball for us and that opened things up for me in the end.”

Minutes later, Danvers defender Drew Piazza launched a long drive from midfield and the perfectly positioned Martin rose from a crowd to flick home a textbook header to cap the game’s scoring.

A Nikolay Sakhin goal had Danvers up, 1-0, at the half, but the Panthers went on the attack to start the second and Conor Leahy followed up on a rebound, burying the ball in the back to tie the game five minutes in.

Carnivale (eight saves) kept Beverly afloat at the 12-minute mark of the second half when he guessed correctly on a Martin penalty kick, diving to his left to collect the blast and keep the game tied.

“It’s the first [penalty kick] I’ve ever seen him miss in a practice or a game,” said Chase. “[Carnivale] just made a great save. That kid came up big time after time for them.”

Ursuline 23, Notre Dame (Hingham) 32 — Senior captain Maddie Wolfe finished the race in 20:08, propelling the Bears to their first win over the Cougars, and clinching the Catholic Conference league title.